> I'm also re-reading the _Lord of the Rings_,
>for what I think is the sixth or seventh time. I
>try to re-read it every year and a half or two
>years, especially since buying a nice hardback
>set a couple of years ago. Each time I read the
>series, I try to take it more slowly, and absorb
>more of Tolkein's careful and elaborate protrait
>of Middle-Earth.

Oh, you're one of *those* people, are you? Personally, I slogged through LotR once, and will probably never subject myself to that again. I do not pretend to have even a fraction of Tolkien's abilities in either world design, linguistics, Germanic myths, or even fiction writing, but the mans prose style puts me to sleep so quickly it's not even funny. I had to force my way through most of the series. It's not enough for Tolkien to say "they traveled from Bree to such-and-such a place in 12 days" he has to go on and give a description of the entire landscape and layout of the surrounding hills and valleys. Fellowship reads more like a travelogue than a novel.

I'm always amazed at the people who say "I read it straight through! I couldn't put it down!" because I had exactly the opposite experience. I had to force myself to pick it up, and found it quite easy to put down--in fact, I did so involuntarily several times while reading in bed.